Witness Seminar and Open Forum Series (No 4)
The Medical Social Worker in Scotland; the Development of a Profession
Recorded on 13 March 2004
The main focus of this seminar was the period
which saw the transformation of the hospital almoner into the
medical social worker in the 60s and 70s although reference is made
to current involvement. Present at the seminar were
medical social workers, those in related professions and those who
carried administrative and political responsibility for the social
work profession as a whole. Our research identified a
number of questions: Did the medical social workers lose anything by
moving out of the NHS? How did they fit in with the new social
work profession as it was emerging in the post Kilbrandon era?
What were the particular skills and characteristics of medical
social workers? One abiding difficulty, apparently no closer
to resolution now than it was in the 1940s, is that of persuading
different professions in the health and welfare field to work
together effectively. Is there something in the history of
medical social work and related professions that can tell us why
these difficulties have persisted and even, perhaps, indicate where
solutions might be found? Similarly the policy makers of today
are still complaining that the social dimension of health and
healthcare are often neglected. Again, the experience of the
medical social workers might offer some insight into why this has
been the case. Our purpose, though, is to not to direct
discussion in any particular direction but to invite those with
valuable memories and perspectives to share and record them so that
future historians will have something more than official records to
work with. (Dr Chris Nottingham)
In collaboration with 
Part 1 : 1 hour, 7 minutes, 26 seconds
 [61.7MB]
Part 2 : 1 hour, 17 minutes, 29 seconds
[70.9MB]
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17 July, 2007
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